Iron Reagan – The Tyranny of Will

From the dark, twisted, and resin clouded mind of Municipal Waste front man Tony Foresta, Iron Reagan arrives with their latest full length on Relapse Records entitled “Tyranny of Will”. This crossover thrash / hardcore punk supergroup contains Foresta on vocals, Mark Bronzino (ANS, Mammoth Grinder) on drums, Landphil Hall (Municipal Waste) and Ryan Parish (Darkest Hour, City of Caterpillar) on guitar, and Rob Skotis (Hallbear) on bass.

What you get is a brash, no holds barred, intense thrash / punk attack reminiscent of old Corrosion of Conformity, DRI, Cro-Mags, Anthrax, and so on. Make no mistake, this album is full of fast and fun jams for you and your mates to jam! The first thing musically that I picked up on with this album was the thick, crunchy guitar sound reminiscent (go figure) of S.O.D’s landmark crossover album “Speak English or Die”. Despite being very punk influenced and Bronzino’s drumming highlighting the hardcore influence in the percussion, Iron Reagan very much keep metal alive and well in the guitar sound by opting for this heavier approach.

Foresta’s vocal delivery contains the snotty, punk / thrash yelps that fans have come to know and love from the singer and, although the darker and more serious subject matter lyrically, he seems to be noticeably more comfortable and the overall looseness come through on the album and makes it a very fun and easy listen. In a recent interview Foresta described Iron Reagan as “a more pissed off version of Municipal Waste”. This is definitely true. If you enjoy Municipal Waste, particularly their early albums like “Waste ‘em All”, you should certainly enjoy “Tyranny of Will” as well. Many of the songs are very short and fast thrash attacks clocking in less than one minute each that capture the hardcore spirit that Municipal Waste embodied in their early career before adopting more of a metal vibe.

Although Foresta is the face and voice of Iron Reagan, Hall and Bronzino truly shine on this album and their guitar playing covers many metal and punk bases. “Broken Bottles” and “Nameless” contain really interesting and cool Slayer-esque leads over crushing DRI style thrash riffs that surely keep the heads banging. “Close to Toast” is another stand out track with a super infectious groove riff that carries the song and should get the pits raging.

There really isn’t much else to say about “Tyranny of Will”. Go out, buy this, see the band on tour, have a few, two more, circle pit, stage dive, sing along. You should know the drill by now. These vets do.

Score: 9 out of 10

ALBUM INFO

Tracklist:

1. Tyranny of Will
2. I Won’t Go
3. Eyeball Gore
4. Close to Toast
5. Bet on Black
6. Miserable Failure
7. The Living Skull
8. In Greed We Trust
9. Glocking Out
10. Rat Shit
11. U Lock the Bike Cop
12. Broken Bottles
13. Bleeding Frenzy
14. Bored to Death
15. Class Holes
16. Obsolete Man
17. Nameless
18. Exit the Game
19. Your Kid’s an Asshole
20. Patriotic Shock
21. Bill of Fights
22. Consensual Harassment
23. Just Say Go
24. Four More Years

Label:
Relapse Records

Release Date:
September 16th, 2014